In the Tigers' second and final exhibition game before tipping the season off on Tuesday against Cleveland State, they fell to UNLV on the road 90-81. The loss gave UNLV its first exhibition win of the year after falling to Utah and BYU on its home court.
Missouri came out of the first half with a slim 48-43 lead that quickly diminished after the Tigers' offense stalled and UNLV took advantage in a sloppy second half from the players in black and gold. Here's everything you need to know from the exhibition loss.
On the glass, Missouri certainly struggled on Thursday. The Tigers' missed rebounds, particularly defensive rebounds, came from a variety of miscues: missed box-outs, leaving Rebel players open and a consistent inability to get 50-50 balls.
The Tigers were outrebounded 44 to 31 and allowed 17 offensive rebounds. 10 of those offensive boards came from forwards MJ Thomas and Tyrin Jones. Neither player has an extraordinarily big frame for a basketball player, with Thomas standing 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 226 pounds and Jones listed at 6 feet 10 inches, 200 pounds.
On paper, the Tigers should have had the bodies to outrebound UNLV with 6-foot-10 Toni Bryant playing 27 minutes, 6-foot-11 Bryson Tiller logging 17 minutes and 7-foot-5 Trent Burns and 6-foot-9 Nicholas Randall combining for over 18 minutes of action. To accompany the tall forwards and Burns, the Tigers will likely boast one of the tallest rosters in the country this season.
But without a traditional center - Burns is the only center listed and his length is certainly not traditional - the Tigers will need to find new tactics to secure rebounds. During Missouri's media day on Oct. 19, head coach Dennis Gates provided a warning sign that Missouri's rebounding may not be at a desirable level.
"Any team that goes to the Final Four has to be a high field goal percentage defense, but also a rebounding team," Gates said. "I want our guys to be selfish rebounders. I want us to play no different than people give us credit for our size and length and athleticism."
81 points is typically enough to win a college basketball game and after a 48-point first half, the offense looked sharp. But in the second half, the Tigers went away from the 3-point shooting that converted 21 first half points and began forcing entry passes frequently, resulting in a plethora of turnovers.
Missouri was 7-for-14 from distance in the first half and slowed down the downtown diet to 2-for-9 in the second half. The Tigers' turnovers jumped from eight to 12 in the closing 20 minutes.
The turnovers led to 25 UNLV points and the Rebels' particularly shined against Missouri in the fast break, outscoring the Tigers in fast break points 28 to 17. 22 of those fast break points came in the second half where the Tigers had 12 turnovers and Jason Crowe Jr. had five.
Mizzou basketball exhibition box score vs UNLV | Mizzou Athletics / NCAA
Crowe finished with a team-high 25 points, six assists and five turnovers. He shot 6-for-18, 2-for-9 in the second half and made frequent trips to the free-throw line, going 11-for-14.
Tiller is still adjusting to his heightened role this season following his freshman year at Kansas. Tiller, who averaged less than two turnovers per game last year, has had five in each exhibition matchup. Against UNLV he had a -22 plus-minus in less than 17 minutes, but still secured eight rebounds.
Kennard Davis Jr. was one of three Tigers in double digits alongside Crowe and Bryant and was an important spark off the bench. Davis played 28 minutes, added 10 points on efficient shooting and contributed on defense with two steals.
Another notable performance was Mitchell's well-rounded game with eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 16 minutes, appearing improved from the first exhibition. Aidan Chronister also added valuable minutes, scoring six points in 15 minutes, going 2-for-2 from three and boasting the Tigers best plus-minus of +11.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/missouri as What you need to know from Mizzou basketball's exhibition loss to UNLV .
